Iowa Public Television

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Free TV is Still Free

Well with the new year comes some new issues to talk about. One of my colleagues was at a large electronics chain store purchasing a new television and looking to see if there were any television recording devices that didn't require a subscription service. The store representative didn't know of any but went and asked another sales representative who happened to work for one of the home satellite service providers. The sales representative confirmed that there were not any recording devices that didn't require a subscription and that is pretty much the way it is. However the satellite sales representative went on to tell my colleague that the US Congress had passed legislation in the last 30 days of 2012 that would essentially eliminate free over the air television and require everyone to subscribe to a service. A quick check with the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, DC generated this response:

"That is outrageously false! Unbelievable. I think we should call his manager and correct this."

We did contact the manager and this particular case is being corrected. However, if you hear similar claims, feel free to forward the names and affiliations of the people making the claims and I will be happy to straighten them out. I am always a little guarded regarding claims made by people trying to sell me their product...sadly many resort to distortions of the truth to make a sale.